The Not so Happiest Place on Earth
by LuxahHeart
Summary: With the fourth world tournament the bladers find themselves going stir crazy inside their hotel, afraid of the heat and weather while stuck in Florida Max comes up with the best plan to get his fellow bladers out for a day. Though, it's anything but a happy experience. TalaxKai, BryanxHilary. Follows BFF and Anchoring the Spider. Artwork by Trashyartz on tumblr.
1. Chapter 1

**Because Trashy is so talented and amazing she's allowed me to once again write for one of her artworks again, this follows the timeline of BFF and Anchoring the Spider though you don't need to know those stories to follow this one really. **

**Since this one is going to be a bit longer than the other two, I'm breaking it into parts. Not sure exactly how long this will run on for, I'm only shooting for two parts though we'll see what happens when I actually start writing part two. **

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With the small break during the fourth world tournament, once more old teams having come together as they were allowed to stay on one team this year around (given the past year and how it had caused such rifts between friendships and bonds) the bladers were thrown into the States. Somewhere smack dab in the center of Florida, during summer no less, where the heat index climbed and the humidity was suffocating. Every team having to cram themselves into the gym provided by the BBA hotel just to stay out of the heat while training, lest having one member or more collapse if they were to step foot outside at all.

There were four matches left to be held in Satan's pits, a name Tyson came up with all on his own and had stuck around through the throng of other bladers, then they could finally be sent off hopefully somewhere cooler and a little less crowded. Though that was the only thing nobody but Dickenson knew, his new scheming tactic for this year's tournament.

With the last four matches being held during the upcoming week, it left those stuck in the hotel with nothing to do on the weekend. They had already been there for two weeks, and even if they all enjoyed the AC and the indoor pool a good portion of them were starting to feel the effects of being stuck indoors all day after the preceding matches had been fought and won.

Saturday night, after another day wasted away with training with his reborn team and soaking his sore muscles in the pool with a few others, Max strode up to the others of his team inside the dining hall with an armful of brochures he snatched from the front of the hotel lobby.

"Alright guys, take your pick for what you want to do tomorrow." He said as he dropped the twenty or so colorful pamphlets down onto the table between the empty plates and glasses.

Tyson was the first to reach out and pluck one out from the stack, the others at the table following suit as they each gave Max a questioning look.

"What is this?" Kai asked, having refused to pick up a pamphlet from the pile.

"It's a way to get us out of here tomorrow." Max stated proudly, "I already ran it by Mr. D and he said all charges would be covered by the BBA and we'll be able to pick where we want to go."

"But… Why are we wanting to go anywhere in this heat?" Ray asked as he was busy thumbing through a pamphlet he had picked up, it was for an outdoor alligator farm. Didn't sound that exciting.

"Because we're all going stir crazy here!" Max explained, wanting to pull at his blonde strands for emphasis. "C'mon, just pick something guys." He begged.

"And how are we going to get to one of these places?" The fearless leader questioned, although he had yet to pick up a brochure he was eyeing them almost dangerously.

The past few times he had the unpleasure of walking outside into Satan's pit he was close to burning up just from the walk to and from the hotel to the buses that took them to the stadium. Hilary had supplied him with three bottles of sunscreen already, yet he was near enough out of all of them. A day outside, in the sun, was not something he was looking forward to even if he felt what everyone else was feeling.

"There's buses." Max stated, picking up one of the top brochures and held it up. "Right here, see? From this hotel it'll take less than an hour to get here." He explained, then proceeded to go through three more before Kai held a hand up to stop the lesson.

"And this is what you want to do?" Kai asked, just to make sure or hopefully find a way out of this mess.

"YES!" Max said almost desperately.

"Take a vote?" Kai asked as he eyed the other four members of his team at the round table with him.

Tyson's arm shot up, too engrossed in four pamphlets at once to say a word. Ray let out a breath, though really anything was better than sitting and staring at the ceiling above his bed for another day, and slowly nodded. Kenny had been busy with his laptop, not even registering what had been going on and nodded anyways.

"We should see if there are any others who'd want to come with us." Hilary suggested.

Max's face brightened almost instantly at all their willingness, "I already asked! Miguel and Mathilda are coming, Mariah, Kevin, Ming-Ming, Crusher, oh and Tala and Bryan."

Kai about choked on his glass of water, "When did you ask them?" Really, his boyfriend had agreed to go outside in _this_ heat?! As often as he was busy slathering himself up in sunscreen, Tala was the opposite and was almost the color of his hair at this point because he was so against sunblock. Why, Kai hadn't really asked yet.

"When I ran into them on my way here, they said they didn't care where but just to let them know when we decided." Max answered.

"It's settled then I guess." Kai sighed, setting his empty water glass down on the table in front of him. "Now we need to pick where it is we're going."

"I say we milk Mr. D for all he's got." Tyson said with a wide grin, "Pick the best thing, and go. After all he owes us for sending us here to start with."

"But that doesn't mean we need to make ourselves suffer in this heat." Ray interjected with an eye roll.

"I'm sure there's places to hide in the shade. Here, look at this." Tyson said as he passed his pamphlet to Ray beside him, "This ones got water rides."

"Cats and water don't mix." Ray muttered, gaining a snort from his captain beside him which earned him a hard smack to the arm.

"Whatever, I can't find anything good out of these so it's up to you." Ray conceded, setting down the sixth brochure he had gone through.

"Then Disneyworld it is!" Tyson slammed the pamphlet down on the table in the center on top of all the others, "Any objections?" He asked, glancing around the table.

"Perfect!" Max jumped, snatching the pamphlet and running off to find Mr. D before there were any objections.

"What did we just set ourselves up here for?" Hilary questioned as she met Kai's eyes as they had followed the blondes back as he scampered out of the dining hall.

"Hell."

A good hour and a half after the team had disbanded from inside the dining hall, Kai having gone off to Tala and Bryan's room to inform them of the terrible decision his team had made for their day out, he strolled back down the hall to his room to finally retire from the long day. Part of him slightly looking forward to the break, the other part dreading it with every fiber of his being at the idea of having to be stuck outside in the sun and heat and crowds. He had never been on an amusement park ride before, let alone a Ferris Wheel, though this was supposed to be a place for kids so maybe it wouldn't be all that bad? He hoped…

As he fought with his key card in the slot of his hotel room door, there came a frantic toss of what sounded like sheets, quick and hushed whispers before he even got the door open. Almost coming to a stand still as he stood there, hand on the door handle with a deer in the headlights look as two of his teammates just stared back at him mirroring the look on their own, flushed, faces the second the door was opened.

"You're supposed to be in bed Tyson." Kai said plainly, a dull look on his face replacing the deer in the headlights look momentarily.

"Y-yeah… Right… Night guys, see you tomorrow." Tyson stuttered, rubbing the back of his head and slipped past Kai as fast as he could without looking at him.

Ray shifted back down onto his bed as Kai closed the door behind him, shit he was back early. "He was showing me videos of the place we're going to tomorrow." He had to come up with something, it wasn't a full lie either. Tyson had originally come in to show him videos about what he had gotten them all into for the upcoming day.

Kai arched a brow as he began to unwind his scarf, getting ready for bed, they had videos of the place? Shit, maybe he needed to pull out his phone and take a look before he went to sleep just to try and calm his nerves.

Tala seemed alright with the idea when he had mentioned it to him, Bryan had simply shrugged and left the two for a bit of privacy; more than likely he had gone off to see Hilary before lights out. It wasn't often the opposing teams really saw much of each other with the tournament going on, aside from the down time after the matches ended, and even then that was cut short due to conflicting training schedules.

"Should be fun… Right?"

Kai couldn't tell if he really liked the tone of Ray's voice or not at the moment, if he didn't sound excited maybe they were really fixing to walk into hell come morning. What were in the videos he had seen? Was it as bad as his mind was conjuring up at the moment, and what time were they even getting up to go?

He shrugged his shoulders, discarding his scarf on the chair in the corner of the room before moving to grab his bag on the top of the dresser that faced the beds.

"Do I want to know why Tyson was in here?" He asked in a teasing tone, not that he cared what his teammates did, they were all old enough to deal with whatever they were doing now.

"You have a hickey on the back of your neck, _Captain_." Ray said in an equal teasing tone, if Kai was going to try and make him squirm two could play at that game and smirked when Kai's hand flew up to the back of his neck to hide the mark.

"Never mind…" Kai muttered, taking his bag and his embarrassed self to the bathroom.

"Thought so." Ray smirked harder as Kai disappeared through the bathroom door, relaxing down into his pillow more with a smug look on his face only to get pulled out of it when there came a knock on their door.

With a huff and a heave he rolled himself off the bed to answer, opening it only to come face to face with Max standing out in the hall. Before his mouth opened Max's arm jerked out, clutched in his hand were two printed off tickets with a small stack clutched in his other hand at his side.

"Sorry this took so long, but you wouldn't _believe_ the trouble Mr. D and I went through just to get these." Max explained as Ray took the two sheets of papers from him.

"It's alright, oh. What time were we going?"

"Bright and early, the earliest bus comes at eight." Max informed, "Oh, also Chief decided to stay back and Steve and Eddy are coming now too."

"How much was this?!" Ray questioned, trying to do the math in his head of how many people were now coming with them on their day out.

"About two thousand and some change, Mr. D almost had a heart attack." Max chuckled, "Anyways, with those we can just walk up to the gates and get in. No waiting in lines so hold onto them and make sure to bring them with you in the morning. I have to go hand the rest out, see you in the morning Ray." He waved off, already going down the hall towards the other teams rooms.

Ray not missing the bounce in his step as he went, chuckling softly to himself as he closed the door and went back into his room to lay down. Setting Kai's ticket on his pillow as he passed his bed and put his down on the table between the two beds, settling back down under the covers and setting his alarm for six before rolling over. A weird excitement swirling in the pit of his gut, this wasn't going to be _so_ bad… Right?

When six o'clock rolled around and he was woken up from his dream, had brushed his teeth and managed to tame his hair into a high ponytail for the day and grabbed out a white tank from his bag and a pair of shorts, forcing Kai to get up once he was done and waiting on him to dress before meeting the others in the hallways as they were all slowly dragging themselves out of their rooms. He had a change of heart.

Nobody looked pleased with the early wake up call, even if they hadn't fussed about the time Max had dictated, some stretching others giving off strong 'fuck off' vibes so early in the morning. The only one to be prancing around like a baby fawn was the evil mastermind behind it all, happily bounding from his and Tyson's room with a brighter smile than the sun itself, his blue eyes shining.

"Good morning everyone! Are we ready?!" He asked excitedly, making his way up and down the hall.

"Max… Too early man." Eddy yawned, wiggling his pinky in his eardrum to get rid of the ringing he had because of Max's squeals of excitement.

"We have a bit of time before the bus arrives, so let's get down to the dining hall for some breakfast! Go, go, go!" Max seemed to ignore him, taking charge in leading the eighteen other teens towards the elevator as he clapped his hands to get them moving like a herd of cattle.

Despite the mention of food, Tyson's feet dragged him off to follow his overly excited friend. Some of the others meeting and greeting each other tiredly in the middle, forming a line like a gaggle of school children following their teacher. As Hilary joined the boys of her team, Bryan and Tala coming up at the back with them, Bryan sent a simple wave in her direction that she smiled at and waved back before she clocked their outfits and frowned.

"Hold up, you can't be going out dressed like that." She came to a standstill in front of them, pointing at the two and then noticing Kai's outfit as he had stop with Tala.

"And you can't be wearing your scarf! You'll cook alive in that thing." She pointed out, "Did you even put on sunscreen before you came out?" She asked, hands on her hips.

"What else are we supposed to wear?" Tala asked, blinking a few times down at his white cargo pants, thin long sleeve jacket that sat over a black tank and his black boots.

Bryan was no different, his normal burgundy jacket sat in place on his shoulders. Thick cargo pants and his own set of heavy boots over his feet. Kai, despite wearing a pair of shorts and a simple t-shirt, had grabbed his scarf and applied his face paint.

Before Hilary could say anything the baby fawn pranced his way back towards them, having caught the four stragglers as the others had already crammed into the elevator by his order and were heading down to the first floor.

"What's the hold up?"

"They need to change their clothes." Hilary pointed out before either of the three Russian's could say a word.

Max followed her index finger, taking in the clothes the others had decided to put on and for the first time that morning a frown crossed over his face.

"I mean, it's up to them if that's what they want to wear but you're all going to get a heat stroke. It's supposed to get at least up to 107 degrees Fahrenheit today." Max explained. The other three blinked at him, Max palming his face and dragging it down slowly.

"41 degrees Celsius guys." He explained, the three that had blinked at him looking as though they had been hit over the head by a mallet.

"Right, we'll change." Tala said, unlatching his hand from Kai's and turning to head back to his and Bryan's room with his comrade following close behind him while Kai just opened his door and threw in his scarf onto the bed. Hopefully his hair covered the hickey Tala had left on the back of his neck, then again if Ray saw it that meant others were more than likely going to see it.

Hilary and Max waited for the other two to return, Tala emerging in a pair of shorts and his black tank without his jacket and his running shoes he had for training. Bryan kept his pants and boots, though had grabbed a dark purple tank and threw that on without his jacket.

"And here, before you get any redder." Hilary said, having dug into her purse the moment they stepped back out into the hall and shoved a bottle of sunscreen into Tala's chest where he took it on reflux.

"I'm sure Kai won't mind giving you a good rub down." She winked, taking up Bryan's hand and taking the lead this time in heading to the elevator. Leaving Kai and Tala spitting and sputtering on their spit, the faint red blush rising on Tala's cheeks blending in with his already reddened face.

"I mean, if you asked nicely." Kai smirked, recovering a bit quicker than his boyfriend of a year and trailing after the other two.

Down on the first floor the last five of the party arrived, Max going back into commander mode and forcing the other four towards the food so they all had something in their stomachs while the ones that had already arrived were still busy eating.

"Does everyone have their tickets?!" He called over the dining hall that were only filled with them and the few members of the kitchen staff.

"He's worse than Kai…" Tyson grumbled under his breath as he picked at his eggs.

"Was your idea to go to one of his favorite childhood places." Ray informed with a smirk around the rim of his glass of orange juice, taking a small sip as Tyson groaned beside him.

After getting the collection of 'yes's' to his question, Max shimmied his way down from the chair he had been standing on. Plopping himself down on the seat more properly, his bright smile returning as he wolfed down his plate of food faster than Tyson at an all you can eat buffet. Ready to get the show on the road, the moment they stepped through the gates of the park it'd be every man for himself.

Five minutes before the bus pulled up at the pick up destination on the side of the hotel, the cranky teens and one bubbly blonde shuffled and pranced their way to the small line of four other early risers. As the big red, yellow, and white bus with Mickey Mouse's face painted on the side of it came into view as it turned into the parking lot of the hotel, the cranky teens seemed to finally get hit with the excitement in their guts like Max had been displaying all along as excited chatter started up in the group. The small child with a couple in front of them bouncing excitedly as the bus rolled up in front of them, the doors sliding open and commencing the first real step towards their final destination.


	2. Chapter 2

It was as Max had said, once their bus had rolled up to where they needed to be it was a straight shot through the security check and the lines that were already almost a mile long, despite how early it was, the group of teens finally setting foot across that imaginary line onto Disney World property.

Before them, was a smiling Mickey Mouse head made of flowers, above him on the wall was a sign that read 'Let the Memories Begin!', while above the sign was a train that was gearing up ready to go for the first set of guests that had arrived.

Already there were screaming children scampering around their parents feet, other moody looking teens that looked as though they had only been dragged there by their younger siblings. Some couples walking hand in hand and practically skipping through the tunnel under the train to get further in and enjoy their day out, which with how early it was, the heat hadn't fully hit yet but the humidity was still muggy and heavy.

Max was the first to lead them through the tunnels with the other guests, he too skipping happily as he sung the Mickey Mouse March while his blonde head swayed from one side of his shoulders to the other.

Coming out from the short tunnel, they were greeted with Main Street, a large circular part of the park that looked like the colonial US. With old looking buildings that were shops and eateries, a statue of Walt and his best creation sitting on one of the benches just behind the American Flag. There was a line of people already wrapping around the flower beds, as said best creation was standing there getting pictures with the guests from the line.

While walking past, weaving in and out of the foot-traffic, Tala squeezed Kai's hand a bit tighter but couldn't pull his eyes away from the mascot as his feet started to move faster and consequently pulled Kai forward, almost breaking the formation they had all kept until now as he jerked Kai in front of Tyson and Max at the front.

Tyson gave the two a quirked brow and questioning look as Tala almost mowed over a child that was running to join the ever growing line. "Where's the fire Tala?"

"Just keep walking." Tala answered in a quick pant, feeling a sweat forming on his back as his eyes were still locked onto the life sized Mickey Mouse.

Tyson followed Tala's eyes; clocking Mickey who was still preoccupied with a child wrapped around his legs. A wry grin coming over Tyson's face, wiggling his brows a little as he quickened his steps to walk beside the red-head.

"Is the big bad wolf afraid of a little mouse?" He teased.

"Shove it Granger!" Tala bit back, though a faint tinge of pink crossed his nose as he jerked his chin in the air. "It's just not right… Stuffing people into costumes like that… You don't know whose behind those masks…" He muttered almost to himself.

"They're not the boogie man." Tyson chuckled, though quickly shut his mouth as Kai sent a glare his way and fell back behind the two new leaders.

The group went silent after that, walking down Main Street to where it led them towards the front of Cinderella's castle and a larger statue of Walt Disney holding hands with Mickey Mouse in the center of it all. From there they had four options; go to one of the two paths to the left, or go to one of the two paths to the right.

Unlatching her hand from Bryan's hold, Hilary pulled out the map she had picked up on the way through the tunnel. "There's rides in all directions, but there's a roller coaster to the right of us which is the closest attraction in Tomorrow Land." She informed.

"Why not go there first then?" Tyson asked as he stepped to read over her shoulder, "Do all the places here end with 'Land'?" He questioned.

"Yup, and Space Mountain is really fun." Max said as he skipped over to the two of them as the crowds maneuvered around their group as they just stood in the center of the road.

He pointed onto the map where the ride was, "Then there's some other smaller rides that we can do, if the lines aren't too big or we can go around and hit the bigger ones first and do the other smaller ones after."

"What are considered the 'big rides'?" Ray asked almost nervously as he stood just behind Tyson, the four of them crowding around Hilary now.

"Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and Splash Mountain." Max listed off as he pointed out each ride on the map.

Ray's gut twisted, though he swallowed hard and nodded.

"While you guys figure yourselves out, we're heading to Frontier Land." Michael announced, taking Eddy, Kevin, Miguel, and Crusher along with them.

"We're going to Fantasy Land, see you guys later." Mariah waved, Mathilda and Ming-Ming trotting after her quickly.

"If you get bored of hanging with the boys, just call us up Hilary." Ming-Ming's sing-song voice called.

Hilary's nose curled, a small grumble coming out of her as she tightened her hold on the map in her hands. Even a year later, she still had her issues with the 'blue haired baby face brat'.

"Just meet us back here for the fireworks!" Max called after the other's retreating backs, getting a wave from the respective groups as they kept walking away.

"So Tomorrow Land it is!" Tyson declared, jutting out a hand towards their destination.

The others in their group didn't make a word of protest, Hilary folding up the map in her hands as she followed after the boys she was with, taking up Bryan's hand again. A little bit of Max's excitement getting to her as the blonde continued to happily skip his way towards the sign that hung overhead that declared they were now in Tomorrow Land.

The line that led into the building for their first choice, Space Mountain, was already a good twenty minute wait as they were stuck just on the outside of the open doors where they could barely feel the AC coming through.

"I just thought of something." Max said quickly, taking a step closer in the line as it slowly began to move and gaining questioning looks from the other six with him.

"It only seats six at a time, we're gonna have one person out." He informed almost sadly.

"Why don't we just go four and three?" Hilary questioned.

"That'll work." Max grinned almost sheepishly as if he hadn't even thought of that, moving himself and the others around in the two groups of four and three.

"There we go." He grinned again, having put Hilary with the Russians and left him with Tyson and Ray.

By then Ray realized it was too late to tell them that he was going to sit out, finding no way out of this now as once more the line began to move and they were finally inside the building and felt the cool AC against their already slightly sweating skin.

As they continued through the winding curves of the line, the building dark and giving off the feeling they were somewhere in deep space as pictures of planets and stars came into view the closer they were approaching the front of the line, the uneasy feeling Ray had in his stomach earlier was now nothing but a small tingle of excitement.

Tala and Kai were left to be the leaders, though when they stepped up to the front of the line Tala relayed how many were in their group and they were split up from the other three like Max had planned.

As the cart rolled up before them, each of them standing at the gates that would let them pass into the seats, the three Russian's frowned at the way the seats were arranged.

There were three seats in one cart, another attached to the back, where it looked like a miniature rocket. Though the longer they looked at the blue leather seats and the small space, they could already feel the cramping in their legs just from looking at it.

The gates swung open for them, allowing them to step into the cart as they wiggled into the seats and their knees were about touching their chests; especially Tala's as he was in the very front seat with Kai behind him where it gave him just a bit more leg room but not enough. Hilary had climbed in the last seat behind Kai, where Bryan took the front seat in the second cart that was attached.

As the ride started to move, the adrenaline pumping through each of them, they came to another stop at the opening of a tunnel. The three men's shrinking their necks down into their shoulders like they were turtles at the close proximity of the ceiling right of their heads.

"Are we going to get decapitated through this?" Tala asked in almost a nervous tone, trying to shrink down into his seat more but with his knees touching the rim of the cart he couldn't get further down.

Before any of the other's could answer the same question they had running through their heads, the cart began to move forward before it jerked to the right and they were off.

"WOOO!" Bryan hollered, it echoing in the tunnel as they were out of sight.

The other three that had been left behind were busy climbing into their own cart that had rolled up along the tracks, Max taking the front seat with Ray behind and Tyson at the back. Their legs not so close up to their chests as the others, but there was still little to no wiggle room as they made themselves comfortable as the lap bars came down.

With each passing second Ray's breath came in quicker, his nails already embedding into the lap bar that sat over his legs. Max was bouncing up and down in his seat in front of him, while he couldn't tell what Tyson's reaction was at the moment as their cart slowly rolled forward after the others.

Coming to the same mouth opening of the darkened tunnel, stopping for a few seconds before the cart took off and around the tight bend. Ray's heart leapt into his throat, while Tyson tried to throw his arms up as Max squealed excitedly in the front as they were shot through the tunnel and up the ramp.

It was the worst, the best, the okayest, and not the most exciting five minutes of some of their lives when the carts slowed to a stop at the end of the long winding track that had been too dark to even really see through the entire thing.

As the first group were fighting with getting themselves out from their cramped seats, their knees more than thankful for the release of having been bent for so long, there came the hoop and hollering as Tyson's cart came rolling behind there and stopped just short of crashing into theirs.

Hilary was busy smoothing out her yellow sundress, trying to tame her windswept hair as Kai was helping Tala out of the front seat and Bryan had meandered towards the pictures that had been taken over at the back wall.

Max bounced right after him, dying to see the look on his captains face and frowned when he was only met with the same expression he always wore.

"Ray, you can let go of the bar now." Tyson chuckled, standing out of the cart and to the side as Ray refused to move as his entire body was broke out in goosebumps and his pupils had yet to dilate.

"C'mon Ray, you gotta check out your picture before it goes away." Max urged, trying hard not to laugh at the face Ray had been making during that time.

Steeling his nerves, Ray finally shifted to get himself out of the seat. His legs shaking as he stood on even and flat ground, Tyson putting his arm around his back as if he was fixing to collapse from exhaustion and carried him towards where Max and the others were finally stood and crowding around the small TV screens that held their photos.

A few of them snickered while others cringed at the looks on their own faces, though when all eyes landed on Kai they rolled in their heads as they shook them. The guy still acted like if his mouth moved in any other direction than it's normal thin line his face would break.

"Alright, let's go to the next one!" Max pushed them forward as the pictures changed for the next riders coming off.

Slipping through the crowds they followed Max to another ride not too far from the one they had just been on; the longer Ray was able to walk around the better he felt from that terrible and horrifying ordeal. Hardly registering where they wound up next, Tyson's arm still snug and secure around his back the entire walk over to the next long line.

The sound of motors filled the air around them, coming to Tomorrow Land's Speedway, the entire line having them stand in the sun as they curved in and around the blue colored railings until they were down at the bottom floor again with several motorized cars sat on a track.

"Oh no, you're not driving." Tala said as he wedged himself between Bryan and Hilary just before the two got into the car waiting for them.

"I'll drive." He stated and sat himself down in the drivers seat of the car.

Bryan shrugged, plopping himself down next to his captain without a word and sent a wave at Hilary as she followed Kai to their own car. Max found a yellow, mustard, car to sit in and drive while Tyson and Ray situated themselves into a blue one behind him.

"What's the point of this?" Tyson asked, though kicked back and relaxed as Ray sat in the drivers seat.

"Maybe to do what you're doing." Ray snickered, getting the go ahead and putting his foot down on the pedal that propelled the car forward.

"Well this is exciting." Hilary seemed to pout in her own car, taking the driver's spot as Kai shrugged his shoulders and relaxed.

"How do you make this thing go faster?" Bryan questioned as he and Tala were around the first bend of the track, "My grandmother walks faster than this."

Tala rolled his eyes at him, "You don't know who either of your grandmothers are."

Bryan smirked, "Yeah, but if I did I bet they'd walk faster than this thing."

"Just shut up, I'm trying to drive here." Tala shushed him, acting like he was truly driving an actual car with the others around them.

By the end of the five minute drive, neither of them were too overly excited or had that same rush of adrenaline pulsing through them.

"You gotta remember, this place is for a lot of small kids." Max tried to lift the sour looks the others wore once they regrouped off the ride.

Hilary popped open the map again, "Why don't we head to Fantasy Land next, since it's closest?"

Max's blue eyes brightened instantly, "I know of the perfect ride over there!"

The others shrugged, where once more Ray felt a hot jolt of nerves shoot through him though followed along without a word. Maybe this wasn't going to be as bad as the first, and hopefully a bit more exciting than the last. Just something somewhere in-between the adrenaline rush and the boredom.

"So, what's this Max?" Hilary questioned as they made the walk through into Fantasy Land, coming up to a tent where another line of people stood waiting.

Under the tent was the ride, where a bunch of life sized tea cups were spinning in rapid succession around a large tea pot. At least, to their relief they would be able to stand under the shade as opposed to the sun this time. The pastel colored tea cups spinning and spinning in a large circle, the music from Alice in Wonderland playing through the speakers.

"I'm gonna sit this one out boys." Hilary said as she felt her stomach doing flips just watching everyone spinning in circles endlessly, making her dizzy just watching them.

"But you're gonna miss what it feels like to be a beyblade." Tyson joked, though gained no laughter from the others as Ray palmed his face with a groan.

"That's okay, I'm gonna sit and wait for you all." She waved to them and stepped out of line.

"We should pair up, two each in a cup so that way we're not too crowded." Max suggested.

Bryan's lips curled into a menacing smirk as he quickly grabbed up Tala's hand, "This time, _I _drive."

Tala paled a little, looking to his boyfriend for help though Kai went to stand back with Ray as Tyson had latched himself to Max.

"You sure you don't want to torment the cat one last time?" Tala asked hopefully.

"And have Hilary on my back, no thanks." Bryan scoffed, hauling Tala around through the line up to the very front.

"We don't have to actually spin it… Right?" Ray asked, watching the new set of riders going around and around in circles. They really did look like a bunch of oversized beyblades out there.

Kai snorted before he smirked, "This is your fault too ya know."

Ray stared in horror, that was low. Conceding defeat he went back to watching the ride through it's last few minutes of torment, Max and Tyson gripping onto each other so tightly where they bounced excitedly behind the other four.

The gates were opened, the previous riders cleared out of their tea cups, Max dragging Tyson to the only purple one out there and shut the small door of the tea cup as they waited impatiently for the ride to start. Bryan hauled Tala to their own cup, taking a pink one while Ray followed Kai towards a yellow one.

"First one who pukes has to buy lunch!" Tyson hollered.

"You're on!" Bryan shouted back, wrapping both hands around the wheel that stuck up in the middle of the tea cup. Giving his captain a devilish grin that sent a cold, unfamiliar, chill down Tala's spine.

"Be gentle, please." Ray asked in a weak, and last ditch effort, to his own captain who had gripped the wheel sitting between them.

Kai shot him an unpleasing look, his grip on the metal of the wheel tightening as the song kicked back up over the speakers and the ride slowly started to move.

Max and Tyson already working together to getting their tea cup spinning, Tala clenching his eyes tight as his body was propelled almost sideways as Bryan was working on spinning them as fast as he could. Not only were their individual cups spinning, but the floor was spinning at the same time, everything around them whizzing past their vision.

"O-okay, okay Kai!" Ray fought the bubble of laughter from rising through his throat, the two of them spinning faster than the others around them; at least that's how it seemed.

Kai smirked, releasing the wheel and sat back as he let the tea cup's spinning slow and just follow the more calming spins it was led through. Putting his arms back around the rim of the cup, rolling his head around to take sight of Bryan and Tala's cup going faster and faster until a terrible screeching noise came from it and it came to almost an abrupt halt.

Tala panted, covering his mouth quickly as everything in his vision became blurred and crossed. Bryan throwing his head back with a laugh, causing a stitch in his side.

Tyson and Max kept going, their tea cup not getting as fast as the others but their arms were starting to cramp from having to spin the heavy cup for so long before theirs came to a stop like the others. Sweat rolling down their faces from the small work out they had put themselves through, grinning and smiling like mad at one another.

"Ready for a round two, captain?" Bryan asked once the entire ride came to a stop, everyone around them pulling their dizzying selves out of their cups on wobbly feet.

Tala refused to remove his hand from his mouth, glaring daggers at the man he considered his best friend as he hauled himself out of the cup first and flicked Bryan the bird as he about fell into Kai's chest for support.

The boys met Hilary outside the exit to the ride, a cup of lemonade in her hand. "So, how was it feeling like a beyblade Tyson?"

"Pretty awesome, though boy does it burn your arms." He said, stretching out his cramping arms some. "What next Maxie?"

"Why don't we give Tala a break, he looks ready to blow." Max said, shifting his worrying blue eyes to the other blue-eyed boy who had yet to unlatch himself from Kai's side or remove his hand.

"Food it is then!" Tyson shouted, only for Tala to rip himself from Kai's side and dash to the nearest trash bin. "And it looks like Tala's paying!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Alrighty. So sorry for such a long wait, had some personal things happen this past weekend but I'm back so we can move on with this.  
**

**This is consequently the last chapter, thank you everyone who stopped by to check this little bit of drabble out. I appreciate every review. **

**And thank you Trashy for letting me do this to start with, as challenging as it was I really enjoyed this little fic! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Cats and water don't mix.

He had told them this over the course of their four year long friendship.

Yet somehow, he was made to stand in the unbarring heat for more than half an hour. Just to be pushed on some log flume ride known as Splash Mountain. Where fuzzy animal animatronics sang a song about as bad as 'It's a Small World' on repeat. There were highs and lows, literally, where water was rushed into the log, soaking into his shoes and his pants. Not to mention the seat had already been wet from the last ride it had gone through.

Now, granted he was more cooled down from the sun and heat of the day, but that also meant he was wet and his shoes squeaked as he walked as the water sloshed inside them.

The only one that had been saved from the torment was Tala, all because he had upchucked his breakfast and lunch after trying to eat something after they had gone through a few of the smaller rides throughout Fantasy Land (which was where he had suffered through that god awful song earlier). Somehow finding themselves in Frontier Land where Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain sat, Max more than eager and excited to pull them towards the water ride first.

Despite his protesting, and without Bryan able to torment his captain, it was him who had dragged Ray practically kicking and screaming into the line and on the ride.

Nobody helped him.

He hated them all.

Whatever Tyson had tried to bargain him with earlier in order to go peacefully wasn't worth the torment, he hated him too.

And now, for whatever reason, they skipped the roller coaster for another water type ride in the form of a small raft looking thing that was to take them from the main bulk of the park to an island that was sat in the middle of a man-made lake.

What was over there, he didn't care to know or bothered to ask. Everyone was getting the silent treatment for the rest of the night. His lips were sealed shut tight.

Max was bouncing as they boarded the raft, a guy in a uniform almost close to what a boy scout would wear at the helm of a long pole to guide them through the water. Tom Sawyer Island.

Max had loved this place when he was a child. Got a little lost until he found his mom, but now he was a big boy and knew the place like the back of his hand.

Fearless leader number two for the day he was!

Getting crowded on the raft with possibly thirty other people and they were off across the water, the raft ride barely taking ten minutes before they were docked on the other side and were being ushered off quickly. The first thing they came to was a tall windmill and set of wooden stairs that led up the side of a small hill near the back of it.

"Hey guys, look at this." Tyson called as he had stopped at a wooden sign sticking out of the ground, pointing at it after having made their way up the stairs.

"Wel-_cum_." He snorted as he pointed it written out on the sign.

"Oh Tyson, that's so gross." Hilary gagged while Bryan snickered beside her, only stopping when he got an elbow to the ribs.

"What? It's funny!" Tyson defended as the others continued to walk away from him, following Max and having to rush after them.

The whole island's aesthetic was that from the book, mid 1800's America. With more wooden stairs and bridges that led in one direction or another, man-made mines and caves one could walk through with places to sit in the shade around small shacks that fit the theme of the place.

In a way it felt as though they had been transported back in time, going through it all, Max taking them across a long wooden bridge to another island that held a fort made of logs when the familiar voices of people they knew flitted through the air as they made it through the gates of the fort.

"Hey guys, fancy seeing you here." Max waved at them, gaining Michael and the others that had wandered off with him their attention.

"Max!" Michael had never looked more happy to see him than he did right then and there, running up to him and the others.

"Please tell me you know how to get off this island!" He pleaded.

"Yeah, it's easy." Max said, though felt that was the wrong choice of words as Michael looked ready to explode.

"Maybe for you! You've been here before." He bit out.

"How… How long have you guys been stuck here?" Hilary asked as she blinked a little and took them all in.

Aside from them gaining a bit of sun from being outside, they looked as though they hadn't gone through any of the rides like they had.

"Since we got here." Miguel explained in a slight whine, "We haven't been able to find our way off, we keep getting turned around and end up back here."

"We haven't done any rides, haven't had lunch." Eddy continued on for him.

"Why didn't you just ask a cast member for directions?" Max paled a little at them.

"We couldn't find any." Kevin answered as he was slumped against Crusher's back, looking like a baby koala attached to him.

Max paled even more. The poor things! "It's okay! We'll help you out of here!" He exclaimed as he waved his hands in his face quickly, "I'll just take you back now, you guys wait for me to come back!" He said to his group before waving on the other boys who followed him quickly and quietly.

Once Max was gone with the other group the others went about to check out the fort while they waited for him. Bryan climbing the gun roost to check it out, a little disappointed to find that replica rifle bolted down to the wall. Still not quite feeling good Tala made himself comfortable on a bench while he waited, Ray sitting with him because he had enough of the water in his shoes and walking around in it.

Hilary tugged and pulled Kai along, a child like wonder in her eyes at the animatronic horses inside the blacksmith's hut while Tyson wandered around checking everything out and touching the props and displays like an actual child.

About ten minutes later Max came rushing back up to them, looking pleased with himself for having helped their friends find freedom.

"Okay, they're on a boat back to the park."

"Good job Maxie." Tyson clapped him on the back, "But this place is pretty boring, why don't we hit the main park and some more rides again?"

"B-but there's caves and mines we haven't gone through yet!"

"We've been stuck in caves before, you had a building fall on you, do you really want to walk through a _fake_ one?" Tyson countered.

"Well… I guess not…" Max answered as he kicked the dirt with the tip of his shoe.

"Tyson." Kai called, "We have to do what everyone wants, not just what you want." He scolded lightly.

Tyson held in the groan he felt coming up, Max's eyes sparkling as he stared at Kai almost in disbelief.

Fearless leader number one had his back! He could kiss him!

"Alright! Well, um… Let's go check out the cave, it's close by." Max suggested quickly before he lost his chance, turning on his heel and pulling himself out from under Tyson's arm to take the lead.

The others followed him once more, going back across the long wooden bridge and traveling through the dark man-made cave Max had been too excited to go through.

It was nothing that special to a bunch of teenagers fixing to break adulthood, but with Max's excitement it was as if it was slowly seeping through their skin. They could slowly see the appeal to it, it was done up well and once more made them feel as though they had been transported to a real cave until the light of day broke the illusion and they came out the other side.

It was the same way through the mine, once they had reached it, and by the time they all came out of the darkened tunnel their feet were hurting and were ready to sit for a bit. On a ride or just in general, nobody really cared at that point what was next on the bucket list. As long as it wasn't It's a Small World again.

"Hey Max." Hilary called as they were walking down a dirt path around the side of the island, able to see the other side of the park across the water.

"What's that?" She asked once he turned around to look at her, pointing across the river at a mansion that was peeking through the brush and foliage.

There was a line of people walking up to it under a green tarp overhang, the mansion looked like it was rather old and still somehow fit with the aesthetic around it and the rest of the park.

"Ohhhhhh! That's Haunted Mansion! We should go, it's not that scary." He answered as his eyes lit up, "And it's pretty slow, has AC and it's fun."

"You had me at AC." Tala said quickly, looking as though he was about to collapse from heat exhaustion. His pale skin now redder than any of them, even after Hilary had forced him to wear sunscreen though he had put it on a bit too late.

"Just follow me!" Max called them forward again in order to find the rafts that would lead them off the island.

After a bit of searching, they found the docks again and boarded another crowded raft quickly. Back on the side of the park they were ushered towards their next ride, the line for it almost a mile long but at least they were covered by the shade of the green tarp overhead.

Thirty minutes and they were finally through the mansions doors, the wonderful AC cooling their skin as they took in the décor around them. Playing up the 'haunted' theme almost to a T before they were pushed into a small room with other riders, a chandelier hanging in the center of the room that felt like it came from the Victorian era. A gravely voice speaking overhead as they entered with a picture of a man's face hanging on the back wall, that slowly transitioned into a skeleton's face as the gravely voice continued to speak to them.

Before they were able to stand too long a wooden panel beside the picture slid open, the crowd moving forward and into the other much smaller room. The one they came into was almost circular in shape, above their heads around the banisters sat statues of gargoyles with two candle sticks on either side of them. More pictures were hung along the wall, while the gravely voice followed them.

The wooden panel shut on it's own, Tyson feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand on end as the lights dimmed. Feeling out for Ray's hand who jerked it away quickly, still sore from their earlier ride on Splash Mountain.

Bryan leaned back to where Kai and Tala were stood behind him and Hilary, her clutching his hand in a death like grip, as the other two had taken to standing as close to the wall as they could to stay out of the mess of the crowd.

[Reminds ya of home just a bit, huh?] He joked to the two in Russian.

[Would have taken this over that place any day.] Tala answered with an eyeroll, his eyes staying focused on the ceiling as it looked like it was stretching above their heads.

The gravely voice barely coming in over the crowd talking that he had missed what the man said, though was unable to tear his eyes away from the ceiling and the pictures that became elongated.

Max nudged Ray and Tyson in the sides and pointed upwards to grab their attention, the two looking up and Tyson's heart slammed into his chest harder and this time succeeded in gripping at Ray's hand and squeezing it.

_"This chamber has no windows, and no doors." _

Tyson swallowed the lump that had caught in his throat at the sinister laughter that floated around the room, unable to look away from the ceiling as his nails started to embed into Ray's hand.

_"Which offers you this chilling challenge… To find a way OUT!" _The sinister laughing came back, making Tyson's skin prick.

_"Of course. There's always __**my **__way." _

Tyson let out a yelp as the lights in the room turned off without warning and a loud crash of thunder filled the room, jumping slightly as a flash went off and above them they could see the silhouette of a man dangling from the ceiling. A few screams were let out, Tyson one of them, but whether the others came from other riders or was part of the ride he wasn't sure.

Then the lights came back on, his body trembling slightly while Max tried not to laugh at him and Ray was praying he'd let go because his fingers had gone numb.

Bryan leaned back towards the other two behind him again quickly after having watched what happened, [Oh look, Boris.]

[I thought you buried the body.] Kai said in a humorous tone.

Bryan shrugged his shoulders at him, [Can't remember what we did with it.]

Tala rolled his eyes again. As much as he wanted that to be true, Boris was safely tucked behind bars currently.

The gravely voice apologized to the riders for scaring them prematurely before a back panel slid open on the wall again, letting the riders out into a long hall where their black cars with high backs were waiting for them on an already moving platform.

Being rushed to sit on the moving cars Tala followed after Kai, trying not to trip over his feet as it was like walking on a treadmill, jumping in beside him before they reached the opening and the small lap bar came to rest over their laps. The gravely voice and haunting music playing in the speaking behind their heads as the cart continued forward.

Bryan and Hilary jumped into the one behind them, Max getting his own cart while Ray had to tug Tyson into the one that followed.

"He _lied_." Tyson hissed as he glared at the cart in front of them, "Who knew Max was capable of lying!"

"Who knew you were scared of a fake haunted house." Ray grumbled under his breath, finally the feeling coming back into his hand Tyson had strangled half to death. Rubbing it to get the pins and needles he could feel in it to go away, not even paying attention to the ride as it continued on.

He consequently wasn't the only one not paying attention to the ride and what was going on. The moment it got darker on the ride Tala had turned to Kai and they were lip locked, Bryan and Hilary doing the same. Max was really the only one that was looking and enjoying it, Tyson had gone to covering his eyes with his hands as he tried to block out the haunting music that was coming out of the speakers by his head.

After the five or so minutes of bliss for some, and five or so minutes of horror and slight bliss for Tyson, they clambered off the still moving ride trying their best not to fall out on their faces before they were back on solid and unmoving ground.

"Did any of you actually stop to _breathe_?" Max asked as they came up to the wall that displayed their pictures from the ride.

On their laps in the carts, despite the others having been in a game of tonsil hockey, there were ghostly figures inside the pictures.

"Nope." Bryan answered with a smug grin, getting elbowed in the rib again by a flustered Hilary.

If she had known they were going to take her picture she would have looked more put together!

"At least you two made up." Max said as he glanced back at Ray and Tyson.

Ray shrugged his shoulders at him, "It kept him from crying."

"What time is it?" Tala asked as his empty stomach growled slightly.

Kai checked his phone, "About five."

"We could get some food and then find a place for the fireworks; those start around nine and we want to have good seats." Max said as they were walking away from their pictures and out into the gift shop.

The others nodded in agreement, all their stomachs getting tight with hunger.

Finding a place to eat back on Main Street they filled up on food and then meandered around the shops for a bit before going and taking pictures in front of the castle. Hilary taking her Minnie Mouse ears and putting an extra pair on Kai's head to have him pose with her in front of the castle, wearing the Mickey Darth Vader shirt Tala thought would be funny for him to have.

Of course when the snap of the camera went off the others groaned at him. His face was set in stone, again, like it had been throughout the entire day. At least, they thought, he had at least thrown up a random peace sign behind Hilary's shoulder while she had stuck her tongue out at the others.

With the pictures taken, bellies full, Max lead them around to find the perfect spot for fireworks as the sun began to set and the lights around the park began to flicker on. The other two groups that had parted from them earlier coming back to join them per Max's instructions.

Resting their feet from the long day they scattered around on the ground and the park bench they were able to snag. Now all that was left for them to do was wait the last few minutes before the castle erupted in array of colors and music blasted from the speakers.

Sitting beside him on the bench, Hilary leaned into Bryan's side where he put his arm around her shoulders. The chill of the night setting into her sun kissed skin now, their attention up at the colorful blast of the fireworks lighting up the night sky.

Tala had found himself with his arms draped over Kai's shoulders, having sat on a ledge of a half-wall with Kai leaning against it between his legs. Their necks craned up to watch, Tala's chin resting on the top of Kai's hair and their fingers locked just under Kai's collarbone.

Tyson was trying to refrain from bouncing, being on Ray's lap with his arms loosely held around his middle and his chin on his shoulder. Kevin, like he had become glued to Crusher's back, was still there on the burly giant and peeking over his head. Max was happy sitting beside Tyson and Ray, eyes sparkling as the fireworks broke apart once they touched the sky and exploded out in a colorful display just above the castle's peak.

Ming-Ming had been hoisted over Eddy's shoulders, making 'ooo' and 'ahhh' noises with every new explosion of color while Mariah stood beside them with Michael on her other side and Miguel sat down beside Max with Mathilda resting her head on his shoulder.

The final hit, the music kicking up as firework after firework shot up into the sky one after the other. Lighting the sky up brightly as if it were daylight again, the colors breaking apart and blending in with each other.

As the last of the fireworks died out of sight in the black backdrop of the sky, the music slowly down, the large crowd began to gather their things as the bladers picked themselves up off where they had been sitting, the others just simply turning to take them with the crowd back to the buses.

It had been a long day and they were more than welcoming their stiff hotel beds and a shower.

"So, what'd you guys think?!" Max asked as they were fitted onto a bus finally after almost an hour long wait.

"Never again." Kai answered him from near the back with Tala halfway asleep on his shoulder and against his side.

Max frowned a little at him, "Yes Sir…" He grumbled under his breath.

His fearless leader number two title stripped away.

For now…


End file.
